Signed Limited Edition Print of 12
30 x 30cm
Printed on Museum Etching 350gsm paper
 
As seen at my solo exhibition 'Six Hills Secrets'  at Stevenage Museum, 9th March - 28 April 2026.
 
Following the death of his mother in 1849, James Lucas (1813-74) didn’t leave his mother’s corpse for 13 days and barricaded himself in his residence, Elmwood House. Lucas never left his home and became well known as the ‘Hermit of Redcoats’. Among his many visitors was Charles Dickens (on the advice of his friend, local writer and aristocrat, Edward Bulwer-Lytton). Lucas rejected Dickens’ approach with his minder telling him ‘Mr Lucas has never heard of you’. Dickens eventually managed to bribe himself an audience with Lucas but his rejection was enough to portray Lucas as the lunatic Mr Mopes in his short story ‘Tom Tiddler’s Ground’.
 
Lucas’ seclusion is the antithesis of the design of Valley Way in Shephall, one of the six neighbourhood centres in Stevenage. Community and accessibility were prioritised with homes next to shops, doctor’s surgeries and community spaces. Could these neighbourhood centres have transformed the Hermit of Redcoats?